HUGH McAULEY felt Liverpool were beaten by the better side over the two legs of the FA Youth Cup final against Arsenal.
But he hopes at least some of his players can use the experience to help them progress through the ranks and eventually into manager Rafael Benitez’s first team.
Trailing 4-1 from the first leg, Liverpool couldn’t overturn that three-goal deficit as the Gunners secured a 2-1 victory at Anfield in front of the watching Benitez, his assistant Sammy Lee and Jamie Carragher. A first-half effort from Sanchez Watt and an unfortunate own goal by Spanish centre-back Daniel Ayala sandwiched Lauri Dalla Valle’s eight strike of this year’s competition as Steve
Bould’s side secured a 6-2 aggregate success to land the Londoners a fifth FA Youth Cup triumph.
Liverpool coach McAuley couldn’t fault his side’s effort, but just felt FA Premier Academy League champions Arsenal were that bit more experienced and better equipped to land the trophy.
He said: “They have been two good games and an excellent learning experience for our boys. We played against an excellent Arsenal team with very good players who passed the ball well and moved it well around the penalty area and scored some good goals.
They have very quick players and very strong players and it is a great learning experience for a lot of our players, who are a younger team and a little bit more inexperienced in certain positions.
